A Zippo Tale

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roogles

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A zippo tale

I believe I've mentioned in other posts that in 2009 I had a great uncle pass away who was a life-long pipe smoker. We didn't see much of each other, or really spend much QT together, and I didn't really get into pipe smoking until after his passing…

My father (his nephew) moved into his house in the months following his death, and as time passed boxes of "stuff" that Dad thought I might find interesting or want to pick through was passed on to me.

Among this "stuff" were about half-a-dozen random Dr. Grabows, mostly in states of disrepair, and seven zippo lighters which were as close to destroyed as any I've seen.

Along with the 10 whole lighters were three more inserts, which were corroded, nasty, and falling apart at the seams.

zippo_before.jpg


Of the lighters which were whole, three had caps that were busted off, one wouldn't open at all until I pried the cap off with pliers. All were corroded, nasty, and junked.

Taking a gamble earlier this month, I sent an email off to Zippo with a photo of the 10 asking if there was anything they could do. A nice email back from someone named Tammy said that if they could not be repaired, they would be replaced at no cost to me, so please put them in a box and send them off.

This morning (three weeks later) I got a box in the mail from Bradford, PA.

I have to say gentlemen, I am astounded!

All 7 of the lighters with that were "whole" have been cleaned, have new hinges, new inserts, and are in amazing shape - while still preserving the character that is the result of years of being carted around in the pocket of my Uncle's Levi's.

the three junked inserts were replaced with brand new ones.

zippo_after.jpg


The only cost to me in this whole thing was the $4.25 for my original posting them out to Bradford three weeks ago!

Customer Service at it's finest! Kudos to Zippo!

I imagine that I am in good shape lighter-wise for the rest of my life.
 
That's a great story. Thanks for sharing it! There was a reason your uncle saved those beat up old lighters!
 
Brothers - in these days of cutbacks and poor customer service, it's good to see that at least one company (Zippo) still maintains their lifetime warranty. If only more American companies stuck to their tried-and-true roots, I think we'd still see more 'Made In USA' products on the shelves these days.

I have to say - 'Hats off to Zippo'. This is indeed a rare occurrence these days and one to be proud of!
 
Awesome story. :D

Zippo is a great company, even if their lighters aren't always what I reach for, I'll make sure to give them my business. 8) Leatherman did a similar thing for me recently, I had a broken-down original Leatherman that they replaced for me gratis with a modern equivalent, because they wanted to keep the early model for their museum collection! I was very okay with this. 8)

I'll have to keep an eye out for more "Zippos with character," new or used.
 
Very nice! Bradford is just up the road from me. Their showroom/museum is FILLED with some old, gorgeous lighters.
 
Great story! I've always loved Zippo as a company and here is a major reason why. Good on 'em!
 
Zippo is that kind of company, far different than most around today :p My father was a member of AA the last 18 years of his life and his first "birthday" gift from his AA chapter was a Zippo that was marked with ea. year of his sobriety. When he died my mother gave it to me and I used it for several years till the hinge broke. I sent it to them and they repaired it and gave me a new insert for it and I carry it in one pocket daily as it reminds me of the last 18 years of his life. ( I'm thinking of getting a pipe insert for it as I don't smoke that many cigars anymore )
 
Mon:

The pipe inserts are pretty darned cool. There's the aftermarket ones with butane (Vector makes one, I believe) and there's the standard "fluid" kind--I have the Zippo fluid factory kind, and I rather like it. 8) With the exception of it drying out when I have it in my pocket in the field due to the wind, the wind is also the reason why I carry it--and the piezoelectric ignitions are hard to light above 8,000 feet. Zippo to the rescue!
 
With all the good thing I hear about Zippo repair, I almost want to break one just to send it in.
 
Roog, because of your story, I found a late 1990s matte silver Zippo at a junk store for $5. It still had the spare flint in it. I want to have a few of these things around, now, too. 8)
 
I've been using a Zippo for only just a bit less than a year (late to the party), but have nothing but good vibes for them. Including and especially how they changed out the standard insert for the pipe one, didn't charge me, and sent a packet of flints.

Great to hear of your experience roogs.

This is how CS service should be!


Cheers,

RR
 
I ve had a similar experience with Zippo where I had sent them things to be fixed and they fixed them and shipped them back at their expense. Truly a great American company.
 
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